When You Don’t Understand
When you don’t understand what’s happening in your life, start with what you know for sure; namely, that God is good all the time, and His ‘love for those who respect Him continues forever.’ (Psalm 103:17 NCV) He’s not fickle. He doesn’t bless you one day and curse you the next: His ‘mercies never come to an end, they are new every morning.’ (Lamentations 3:22–23 ESV) But there are things God chooses to reveal to us, and ‘secret things’ He doesn’t—for our own good.
Writer Beth Jones says: ‘If God keeps a secret from us, it’s for our benefit and the benefit of others… For example, He doesn’t go around blaming or telling others about our sins, weaknesses, unbelief, carnality, selfishness or pride to others. When things happen, God knows why… Secret things belong to the Lord. And when He reveals something to us, it’s because He wants us to walk in that truth by faith. For example, He reveals His character and His will in His Word… so we can live by faith knowing that He’s good, fair, kind, generous, merciful, faithful, gracious, patient, and He’s in the saving, healing, redeeming, restoring, sanctifying, and blessing business. Things revealed belong to us. When we don’t know why… here’s what we know for sure. God’s Word is truer than our circumstances or experiences… and just because He knows everything about us doesn’t mean He tells us about everything. We also know that when things look bad, God is still good. He’s a giver, not a taker… a blesser, not a curser… and no matter what happens or doesn’t happen, at the end of the day—we still win!’